In Buffy Aakaash’s Untangling the Knots, we learn such essential skills as “How to Start a Fire,” “How to Undress,” and even “How to Pet a Cat.” But we are given surprise after surprise, as we discover vivid metaphors for deeper life lessons. Even though the title promises untangling, the “necessary fettered entanglement” of love, desire and authentic living is what this collection celebrates. And it does so with heart, honesty, and imagination, the stuff of life and poetry...

~Maxima Kahn, author of Fierce Aria, teacher, and firekeeper

How to Untangle a Knot

Published in Oberon Poetry Magazine, Summer, 2007

Grasp a loose end in one hand
and in the other behold the heart of the matter.

Enter the entanglement
taking note the multitude of impetuous pathways.

Beware of free unravelings
entwining themselves into other snafus.

Pay no attention to seemingly unrelated cordage
encouraging resignation.

Ignore the growing turmoil
as you disengage snarls to enlarge the mass outward.

Refocus on the path
gently tugging loops that carry the loose end through the plight.

Repeat until fully unravelled.

~ poem by Buffy Aakaash